Computer systems use memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”) devices, to store instructions and data that are accessed by a processor. In a typical computer system, the processor communicates with the system memory through a processor bus and a memory controller. The processor issues a command, such as a read command, and an address designating the location from which data or instructions are to be read. The memory controller uses the command and address to generate appropriate command signals as well as row and column addresses, which are applied to the system memory. In response to the commands and addresses, data are transferred between the system memory and the processor. The memory controller is often part of a system controller, which also includes bus bridge circuitry for coupling the processor bus to an expansion bus, such as a PCI bus.
Although the operating speed of memory devices has continuously increased, this increase in operating speed has not kept pace with increases in the operating speed of processors. Even slower has been the increase in operating speed of memory controllers coupling processors to memory devices. The relatively low speed of memory controllers and memory devices limits the communication bandwidth between the processor and the memory devices.
In addition to the limited bandwidth between processors and memory devices, the performance of computer systems and is also limited by latency problems that increase the time required to read data from system memory devices. More specifically, when a memory device read command is coupled to a system memory device, such as an asynchronous DRAM (“SDRAM”) device, the read data is output from the SDRAM device only after a delay of several clock periods. Therefore, although SDRAM devices can synchronously output burst data at a high data rate, the delay in initially providing the data can significantly slow the operating speed of a computer system using such SDRAM devices.
One approach to alleviating at the memory latency problem is to use multiple memory devices coupled to the processor through a memory hub. Computer systems employing this architecture can have a higher bandwidth because a processor can access one memory device while another memory device is responding to a prior memory access. For example, the processor can output write data to one of the memory devices in the system while another memory device in the system is preparing to provide read data to the processor. However, although computer systems using memory hubs may provide superior performance, they nevertheless often fail to operate at optimum speed. One of the reasons such computer systems fail to operate at optimum speed is that conventional memory hubs are essentially single channel systems since all control, address and data signals must pass through common memory hub circuitry. As a result, when the memory hub circuitry is busy communicating with one memory device, it is not free to communicate with another memory device. Furthermore, although computer systems using memory hubs can provide a greater memory bandwidth, they still suffer from latency problems of the type described above. More specifically, although the processor may communicate with one memory device while another memory device is preparing to transfer data, is sometimes necessary to receive data from one memory device before the data from another memory device can be used. In the event data must be received from one memory device before data received from another memory device can be used, the latency problem continues to slow the operating speed of such computer systems.
There is therefore a need for a computer architecture that provides the advantages of a memory hub architecture and also minimize this latency problems common in such systems, thereby providing a memory devices with high bandwidth and low latency.